The Upper Decks

Went there this weekend to watch the UFC fights, got there early, was told by the host we didn’t have to pay for the fights/​not to worry about the $ 10 at all, then got charged after having to change tables 3 TIMES and deal with unfortunate weather circumstances. Management was HORRIBLE! They told us we would get a refund at the end of the night, we went to get it, the same manager said we had to pay no matter what. They wouldn’t even take off a little for us having to miss HALF the fights due to changing tables & the signals going out. He was extremely rude and didn’t believe I would write a bad review about them… so here it is people! I have been in the restaurant industry for a couple years now and have NEVER seen management as horrible as this. I feel sorry for every server that works there; our waitress even said the man was a complete douche but she stays there for the money. That is SAD! Take your business somewhere else because I GUARANTEE if they mess something up they will not take the blame for it. When you’re in the industry of SERVING people, you should do exactly that. I genuinely hope the owner sees this and the manager is fired immediately. Hopefully this review will discourage people from visiting this embarrassment of a restaurant.
Aside from that, good calamari & our server was really nice.

****UPDATE**** This place be closed down since I posted my last review…
The new manager needs to be fired.
The only reason this update isn’t 1 star is because the food is arguably good. But I did just wait 45 minutes to be served one veggie panini and one order of macaroni… in a restaurant where there were only two other tables during lunch service, (aside from an outside company party in the back which had its own servers) both of whom were checking out right as we got there.
The manager checked on us once, while we were 10 minutes into waiting for waters. My husband’s beer order was forgotten for 20 minutes. I had an hour for lunch and ended up having to walk out on my husband and daughter to get back to work on time because this BS took so long. And what did the manager do in lieu of noticing how long our drinks took, how long our meal took, how agitated I obviously was over it? Well, after the fly-​by… she sat at the bar and got her palm read and chatted up the bartender, oblivious to the unacceptable pattern of service and timing of the kitchen.
Also, with my Unilocal check in we got a %50 off first drink purchase coupon, which I selected to use. The waiter literally said «Uuuuummmmmmmm Uuuuuuhhhhhh…» when I asked him if I could apply that to my husband’s beer. I told him he could get the manager who must know that this promotion was going on so she could apply it to our tab. Which he very promptly neglected to do. If he did get it taken care of on our tab, I wouldn’t know because I had to walk out, but the manager did not come to the table to verify the coupon.
I work really close, this has often been a lunchtime destination or after work happy hour for me… but I have to say — their doors are going to close if they don’t figure out what «service industry» means, and that it has to start with good management.
That sign on the patio of «under new management» combined with the fact that this place is virtually vacant during every major food service rush should let you know that they still haven’t fixed their problem. If I ever give them a dime of my money again, it will be because I’m desperate, or because I miss their honestly very tasty mac ‘n cheese (for a whopping $ 7.95, though… ouch) and have called an order in.
I should have listened to my boss who warned me with a livid complaint that he ordered a pasta dish, then about half an hour into waiting for it, the same manager perched at the bar within full view and ate the exact dish he was still waiting on. I thought I’d give it my own shot today and clearly made a mistake.
Unacceptable. And in Austin, there’s no reason to settle for this. Every bit of potential this sports bar has (and they have a lot of potential) is being squandered by lazy, unprofessional employees.

Update:
Recently went to Upper Decks for a Paint Nite with a few girlfriends. All happened downstairs. Bartender was quick and friendly. I had pickle chips and a few Austin Ambers. The server that helped the Paint Nite group was very good, quick service with a smile and she split our checks easily without asking.
If you go here I def. recommend staying downstairs.

I live around the corner from Upper Decks and while I’d love for it to be a good place to hang out, the service is always slow and kind of unfriendly. The food can be good, but if «the kitchen is overwhelmed» (which I’ve heard multiple times) or you’re on an upper deck (ha), it may get to your table late and cold. That makes me sad since the house-​cured bacon is actually great.
To the «new management»: until you address thoughtful staffing for events, service standards, and better kitchen operations, I wouldn’t advertise yourself. The big sign outside implies an improved experience when right now, it’s just as bad as the old one.

I’ve recently discovered this bar thanks to a group of San Diego Chargers fans and only experienced it under the new ownership, but overall I’m pleased.
The Buffalo Wings in particular may be some of the best wings of their kind in Austin. I’ve also tried a few of the other appetizers like Fried Pickles and the Cheese Curds, both very tasty as well.
Service is excellent too.
I just wish they had more drink specials and Coors Light on tap.

New owners = major downgrade.
I had been here a few times to watch some games and grab some grub which was always pleasantly surprising for a sports bar, since it was typically better food than the average chicken wings, nachos and burgers. They used to have an extensive menu with solid ingredients. Apparently the place has new owners so they changed up the menu, among other things…
Last night, I went to watch the UT game with some friends since the weather was so nice. Almost everything was terrible — the lighting in our area, the service, the food.
The ticket for our nachos apparently got lost in the shuffle in the kitchen so we had to remind our server of the appetizer order when our food finally came 40 minutes after ordering. The nachos were on the house which we appreciated but when we got them (after our entrees) they were soggy. The fish and chips were sub par since the fish was flaccid and mushy. I ordered my burger medium and it was way overcooked — crunchy and crisp with served with an under ripe tomato and outer most layer of the red onion. I know I’m being picky but c’mon, it’s kind of hard to mess up a burger. My fries were also mushy and completely over-​salted. Finally, the chicken fried steak was over-​battered and under-​tenderized.
It may sound like I’m being overly critical but truly, nothing served was remotely satisfied. I’ve worked in several restaurants in my day, I waited tables for 5 years — a burger place, sushi restaurants, upscale fine dining so I have a pretty good idea of what is required to earn decent credibility. I don’t ever like giving a restaurant one star, but in this case, one star was too generous. Major bummer.

I REALLY want The Upper Decks to be awesome. This place has so much potential to be my go-​to for game watching, but time after time, I have had bad experience after bad experience.
On one occasion, my group was sitting for 20 minutes before I went to the hostess and asked if we had a server. When the server arrived (five minutes later) she was clearly irritated to have to take our order. Doll, if that’s how you feel about waiting tables, it may be time to change professions.
On another occasion, I was at the bar with a friend, and the bartender asked what name our tab was under at least five times. Granted, I’m not a bartender — I would be horrible at it — but if that’s your job, perhaps a new system for remembering who was under what tab would be in order.
This last time really did it for me. Again, sat at the bar. The bartender was too busy checking himself out to do much bartending. We ordered fried pickles that took (and I’m not exaggerating in the slightest) at LEAST 30 minutes to come out. I also ordered the WORST fish and chips of my life. This is an «upscale» sports bar. If you’re going to be that.. .be that. Do not serve someone a plate with one piece of fish cut in half to make two, and call it fish and chips. Not to mention that the fish was mostly breading and horribly over fried.
Oh, and if I hear a server/​bartender use the excuse that «we’re revamping,» one more time, I will die of hysterics.

Great new owners! Got to meet the new owner last night (⁸⁄₂₉) and have to say that I am looking forward to working with him for the UCF (University of Central Florida) Watch Parties that the Austin Chapter holds here starting this season.
Last night had a BLT with Chips and enjoyed it immensely. That combined with the beer specials made this an awesome experience.
What really makes it a 5 star review is that the staff bent over backwards to help us get connectivity so that we could watch the game correctly.

Great Sports Bar! There are tons of TVs, so you can watch the game from every corner of the place. The food is A-​OK. My favorite appetizer is the Stuffed Jalapeño. Usually stuffed with cream cheese, these little poppers were stuffed with shredded chicken on the inside, and then are deep fried. The wings are also really tasty. The speciality cocktails are nothing great, but the beer is affordable. The real highlight is the outside decks that offer outstanding views of the city.

Ahh yes, let’s have a meal at The Upper Decks said a friend. It’s a group of six on a Saturday afternoon.
4 o’clock I arrive, early as usual. I let them know we have a group coming, can they set up a table outside for us. The lady says no problem. Well, why did I ask that? It would have been crazy to expect them to do so, instead after about a 40 minute wait Judith (who got there about 415) and I went outside and found our own.
In walks the «gun show!» Our waiter was not shy about showing off his large biceps. Sadly he did not impress me with his waiting skills. Maybe had he spent more time waiting tables, less time flirting with one lady, this would not have been such a hilarious adventure for food. For what it’s worth, we were not being nosey, she just happened to be at the table about 5 feet from us, and we saw him at her table enough times.
I order chips and salsa, so we can snack while waiting for the group. About 15 minutes later the rest of our group show up, we are now six deep, not that large a group. The chips and salsa arrive shortly after (mind you it is now about 5 o’clock). The chips are devoured, and we ask for more (at $ 3.50 an order of chips and salsa, so yes we were paying for them, it’s not like we were taking care of free food).
With two glasses of tea ordered, sugar is typically brought to the table (especially when requested twice, right?). Well, no worries. Judith will just head on over to get them for us. Some 20 minutes later, the waiter finally takes our order, nothing fancy is ordered. Burgers, fish tacos, and so on. Well the waiter did not use his guns to write down our orders, «he has this» no problem, right? HA! Not quite.
First he comes back and asks what Judith ordered (again) then later when delivering Kevin’s burger and fries, somehow he got a salad instead. Judith gets up again, because apparently napkins were too heavy for him to carry as well.
Food is good, always has been every visit there. No complaints about that, but it is now pushing 6:30 and we wanted to be out before 6. When asking for the check, he was even slower with that. It was as if he knew how bad he was and was scared to see us leave, hoping if he took long enough we would order more drinks, get drunk, and forget how bad it was (not all of us had tea or club soda).
We pay, we leave, and we wonder what ever happened to our second order of chips and salsa that was ordered about 90 minutes prior to leaving.
On the plus side, Rebecca did make a new friend, with a plastic owl that was in the tree just above my head. Sadly Katharine has asked for a drink that needs blood oranges (which their drink list both online and physical menu have) two visits in a row, only to be told they have none.
So to sum this up,
1. slow service
2. incorrect food delivered
3. GYOS (Get Your Own Salt)
4. GYON (Get Your Own napkins)
5. Ohh look an owl
6. Where are my chips and salsa… aww forget it, time to leave.
All this could be yours too for $ 87.00 + tip (6 people eating, so the price really is not bad)

I go here at least once a week to get the spicy black bean burger. It is the best veggie burger in Austin (might be tied with the Betsy’s Veggie at 24 Diner). I get the jalapeño burger, sub the black bean patty, side salad (good quality greens & love their balsamic dressing).
Sweet potato fries and regular fries are amazing.
Fried pickles are good (I don’t even like pickles!)
My boyfriend loves the buffalo chicken sandwich.
Austin Amber is our usual beer here, but they have a fairly good selection (about 10 taps). Good happy hour deals on drinks too, varying by day.
Wonderful to sit on the outdoor patio.
Note: They only serve food until 10:30pm I believe.
We used to get really bad service here, but we’ve had excellent experiences with service ever since Fall 2012. Maybe they changed management, or just hired a better staff. The waiter we had last time even remembered that we’d been in the week before.
Can’t judge it as a sports bar, because we don’t really care about sports. We just come here for the food & the nice atmosphere, usually when it’s not crowded with sports fans (like a Wednesday night dinner).

Finally made it to The Upper Decks — lots of my Unilocal friends frequent it and the opportunity came and I went.
I was sitting on the bottom patio — and needed to use the restroom — I ended up on the UPPER top deck and couldn’t find it… Kelly S. spotted me as was like — what on earth? …UGH, I got lost. So, it’s hard to find the restroom from the patio — for me, i’m dumb.
Food was very good — superisingly good. We had decent service, we gave our server a break since we overwhelmed them with people, it’s nice being .well…NICE.
Anyway, yes, I will go back!

Just had drinks here on an NFL Sunday night. The only place we could get seating was on the 3^rd deck (where there was no service… but there was bathrooms!). The inside was extremely loud, way too loud! I know I probably sound like an old lady, but I swear it was ear drum busting loud! The bartenders looks stressed, overworked, and were being harrassed by a group of drunk townies.
Ehhhh, maybe under different circumstances, but theres so many bars in Austin, probably don’t need to try this one again!

…Fun Fun Fun Fest was Fun… now what… oh I know, how about we stumble over to the Upper Decks…
All I remember was that the food I order was Awesome, hot, filling and best of all reasonably priced.
Will most likely stumble in there on another occasion when it comes up…

I went here to watch a football game. I called in advance to make sure they’d be airing it, and I had high hopes because the girl on the phone was super friendly, but that’s about the only good thing I can say about this place.
I walked in and there was nobody at the host stand. It did not appear to be a seat-​yourself establishment (you know, because there was a host stand), so I waited… and waited… and waited. While waiting, I made eye contact with AT LEAST 3 different servers who didn’t appear too busy, but they didn’t approach me or greet me. Not even a «Someone will be right with you!» Nothing. Finally, a man who I thought was a customer walked in behind me, asked if I had been helped, took me to a table, and put the game on. Perhaps the manager? I saw him scolding our server a few minutes later, which is something a customer should never have to see. So uncomfortable, do that privately.
Service was bumbling and awkward, waters sat empty for too long, food arrived and we had to wait for silverware/​napkins. Overall atmosphere inside was not good because of no windows and an overabundance of little super bright lights. We got outta there as soon as I finished my sandwich.
Also, ugh, there are so many spelling errors on the menu.

First this place has Free Wifi which helped me out a lot while I was killing time getting my car cleaned. AND they allowed me to plug my laptop into an outlet behind the bar!!! Just for that I would’ve given them 5 stars.
The food here, for bar food, is outstanding. I do not know where to find better food at a sports bar in Austin, TX. Nothing too special but high quality and good serving sizes.
I always get the Black and Bleu burger which involves blue cheese, bacon, and fried onion strings. Absolutely delicious. While the options are fairly typical of bar food, they do it well. Plus they cook your burger to order-​yay medium rare.
There is outdoor seating and a variety of local beers on tap that I’ll have to review when I come back another time.

The Upper Decks is a good sports bar option if you’re south of the river. I love that I can bring my dog, sit on endless square feet of decks, and watch the game on a big ass screen.
I’ve only been inside of Upper Decks once and it was nothing special. However, the outdoor decks are fantastic. Tons of seating and a great view of Austin — it’s great for those of us who like being outside.
Food is solid. Nothing amazing, but better then most sports bars. The black bean burger is enormous and quite tasty. The queso is good as well. They have some healthy options as well — some large salads.
They don’t have as big a liquor selection as I would hope. It’s pretty limited to your standards. Same with the drink menu itself. What if I want a Sazerac with my black bean burger? No go here. Beer menu is okay, but nothing to brag about either.
Service is always friendly, but it seems like every time we’ve been here we’ve dealt with slow service (at least 5 times). Last time we were there it took at least 20 minutes for someone to take our drink order, after it took 15 minutes for a table to clear up. No bueno!
Up the service speed and drank selection and this place would easily be 4 – 5 stars in my book!

Blood orange margarita = terrible. Really, terrible. I’m sorry but it was flavorless and watered down to the max. Perhaps the blood orange juice didn’t pack the needed punch…
We also split the buffalo chicken sandwich. Not great, not good. Kind of fresh, hard to tell. I guess that patty is trucked in, who knows.
I would totally be back to watch music next door from the deck or to watch a major sports game but I’ll skip the fancy drinks and grub.

Have been a couple times so far, and have really enjoyed it. Food’s pretty good, beer prices are pretty decent, ambiance is nice (kind of upscale casual). I like some of the deck specials, like the movies on the deck and the dog happy hour. We enjoyed watching a mobster movie with a spaghetti dinner including wine. Would have liked to have a salad or something with it, but other than that, it was really good. Nice, spicy sauce.
Overall, a nice place to watch sports, with food decent enough to go even without a game to watch.

Visited Upper Decks today with a group of co-​workers. I wish I didn’t have to precurse this with saying we are all youngish women and sometimes it feels like I don’t get as good of service as I may if I am with a mixed group. Not sure if that was going on here but you never know.
Anyway, food was good and the lunch specials are a great deal. It is a little noisy on the second deck during lunch time but not too distracting. The service was a little slow and not as responsive as it could have been, so be forewarned if you are trying to have a quick lunch – we were there for a full hour and a half – making this a two hour lunch adding in the drive over and back. A little long for a typical lunch when you work in an office. I will be back to try the happy hour and fried pickles on a more relaxed schedule. Glad Zax’s, Aussie’s, Hooter’s, and Threadgill’s have some decent competition on this corner finally.